File version history

The amount of time Dropbox stores previous versions of your files depends on the plan you have:

Basic (free): 30 days

Plus: 30 days

Professional: 120 days

Business (Standard, Advanced, Enterprise, or Education): 120 days

Note: If you previously purchased extended version history on your Dropbox Plus account, you have one full year to recover previous versions. However, the extended version history add-on is no longer available for purchase.

Preview—and restore—older versions of files

Click Files or Paper to find the file you'd like to see previous versions of.

Select the checkbox that appears to the left when you hover over the file.

Click Version history.

Select one of the versions to preview it.

To restore to an older version, click the Restore button.

Does version history use my storage quota?

No, version history doesn't take up any of your available storage quota.

Do offline file edits appear in version history?

Version history is not updated when a file is edited offline.

For example, if you edit and save a text file multiple times without an internet connection, then each edit won’t be reflected in the version history for that file. Once your device comes back online, offline edits will sync as the current version for that file. If there's a chance that you'll need to access an older version of a file, then we suggest only making edits when your device is online.

What happens if I rename a file?

When you rename a file, the version history of that file continues and file rename event is listed. Any subsequent versions of the file will have the new name.

What happens if I move a file?

The version history page for the file lists the move and the folder that the file was moved to.

What happens if I share a file?

The version history for that file continues, and the sharing event is listed as a move to a new folder.

What happens if I restore a file to before it was renamed or moved?

If you restore a file to a version that existed before the file was moved or renamed, the older version will be restored in the file’s current location and with its current name.

Here are two examples:

Move: You have a file named draft.txt in your "Drafts" folder. You move draft.txt to the "Finished" folder. Later, you decide to restore a version of draft.txt that existed before this move. The older version of draft.txt is restored in its current location inside the "Finished" folder.

Rename: You rename draft.docx to finished.docx. Then you restore a version from before the rename. The older version is restored under the current name: finished.docx.

Access version history on Linux

Is version history supported for all file types?

Dropbox saves version history for all types of files. Dropbox does not save version history for folders, including application bundles. Application bundles are folders that look like files; some common application bundles end in .key, .pages, and .app. If you save any of these types of folders to Dropbox, be aware that version history won't be available.

Version history period

Depending on your plan and if you purchased extended version history, your version history is available for a certain length of time. We'll call this the "version history period."

If you create a file, and then edit it after the version history period elapses, only this most recent, edited version of the file can be recovered.

For example, imagine that you have a file called myfile.docx, and that you have a 30 day version history period. If you created myfile.docx on January 1, and then edited it on March 1, only this version from March 1 is available in your account.

This is true because your version history period of 30 days elapsed between creation of the original version (January 1) and the edited version (March 1)

The March 1 version is available until you edit the file again and 30 days have elapsed since March 1